Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Cap ramifications of placing Shaun Rogers on I.R., & adding Markus Kuhn to the 53-man roster

Five days ago, on Thursday, November 7th, the Giants placed DT Shaun Rogers on season ending Injured Reserve to make room for second year DT Markus Kuhn off of the PUP List. Rogers had a salary split in his contract that kicked in once he was placed on IR. According to Jason Fitzgerald of overthecap.com, this move saved the Giants $111,529 in cap room. The article below from about seven months ago has the details of Rogers's contract:



His split kicked in once he went on I.R., as detailed below:

Source: Shaun Rogers's salary cap page courtesy of OverTheCap.com


  • As shown above, according to Jason's figures, Rogers's cap number went down from $620,000 to $508,471.
  • Rogers's salary cap page from OverTheCap.com is shown above, detailing his contract after the salary split.
  • Jason's number's are different than mine, but I'll take his figures over mine in matters such as this; here are the figures I came up with regarding Kuhn for the sake of reference:





Shaun Rogers's cap number wasn't the only contract that the Giants gained cap room from due to a readjustment. DT Markus Kuhn was on the PUP List to start the year. He was eligible to return to the team between weeks 7 and 13. Once he started practicing in week 7 though, Kuhn's deadline for either being added to the 53-man roster, placed on I.R., or waived kicked in. The Giants had 21 days to decide what to do with him from that point on. They had to make a decision on him when they did. Kuhn, like Rogers had a salary split if he was not on the 53-man roster. Kuhn's salary split began to count from week 1, but ended after week 7. After week 7, Kuhn's cap number began to be calculated at his full rate again. The salary split figures are as follows:

Rogers's salary split from $940,000 to $433,000 and Kuhn's salary split from $480,000 to $303,000.
Source - 2011 NFL/NFLPA CBA - Article 26: Salaries, Section 8: Split Contracts.



Here is my breakdown of Kuhn's adjusted 2013 salary cap figure (work & calculations shown below), as well Kuhn's salary cap page from OverTheCap.com:





Source: Markus Kuhn's salary cap page courtesy of OverTheCap.com




The NFLPA's league cap website bares out this differential. On November 6th, the Giants were listed as being $129,595 under the cap, to being $140,007 under the cap on the next day when Kuhn's addition to the 53-man roster took place (the difference is $10,412--only a dollar off). The Giants went from being $140,007 under the cap to being $251,536 under the cap on November 8th. This is when Rogers's $111,529 cap adjustment took effect via the NFLPA's cap website.

Readers of this blog should keep in mind the fact that the NFLPA's League Cap website isn't foolproof. Data entry errors and miscalculations are made--this was frequent during the end of the summer this past August. The only cap figures which are 100% accurate are those which are maintained by the NFL Management council, as Jason Fitzgerald from overthecap.com pointed out on his website and one of his early season podcasts. Unfortunately, those numbers hardly ever get out.

The roster moves that were made with David Wilson (placed on season ending I.R.) and Andre Brown (activated off of temporary I.R.) on the same day that the two transactions mentioned above were made had no cap ramifications, which is why I didn't place an emphasis on them when writing this entry. 7th round picks like Kuhn usually have salary splits kick in during the first two years of their deals if they are not on the 53-man roster. First round picks like Wilson don't have salary splits at all. Check out this article on the subject of rookie contracts and salary splits below:


Salary splits are not unique to rookies and second year players. Veteran players with injury histories, like Terrell Thomas, Shaun Rogers, and Brandon Jacobs all have salary splits in their current one-year deals with the Giants. Andre Brown does not since he was tendered at the second round level for $2,023,000. Neither he, nor Wilson impacted the Giants' cap. Next season may be different for Brown though since he is an unrestricted free agent, regardless of where he may end up. The team that he signs with may include a salary split as part of the condition of his deal, the way that the Giants did for Thomas, Rogers, and Jacobs this year on account of Brown's extensive injury history. Keep this mind this coming off-season when a market for A. Brown builds up.